With sensationalist adverts, steep price rises and bombastic rhetoric, Russia is pulling out all the stops to curb the national love affair with vodka that is estimated to cause 500,000 deaths a year, especially among men.

A series of haunting ads broadcast round the clock on state-run television show in graphic detail the damage that the drink can do. Viewers follow a gulp of the spirit down a man's throat – vodka is blamed particularly for premature deaths among men – from where it travels to his heart, lungs, brain and liver, causing explosions akin to bomb blasts.

The ad follows on from government plans to double vodka prices to 200 roubles (£4.30) over the next three years, proposals that come on top of new minimum price stipulations which have already sharply driven up the cost of a bottle.

In a sign of the new mood of sobriety spreading from the Kremlin, hard liquor was banned from the grounds of last week's showcase Economic Forum in St Petersburg, Russia's answer to Davos.

The new offensive is being spearheaded by President Dmitry Medvedev, who has repeatedly warned of the "national calamity" that vodka inflicts on a country with a falling population and low life expectancy (barely above 60 for men). Last summer Russia's official watchdog, the public chamber, said that alcohol contributes to 500,000 deaths annually.

But politicians face an uphill battle. A recent study by Romir, an independent research firm, found 55% of Russians buy at least one bottle of vodka per month, with 40% of male respondents drinking the spirit at least two or three times a month. The heaviest users were aged 46-55, with 15% drinking vodka at least once a week.

"Vodka is not a necessity. It shouldn't be cheap," said Sergei Shatalov, a deputy finance minister, last week.

Previous campaigns against vodka have not been successful. Mikhail Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign contributed greatly to his unpopularity. With the presidential election a year away, Russian leaders will likely keep that in mind.

It is not yet clear whether the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, or Medvedev will run for the post. Yet, according to Vedomosti, Russia's leading business daily, the Putinka vodka brand remains far more popular than its rival Medvedeff.